I'll Take Care Of You
by Caterine1
Summary: 'I know you've been hurt by someone else, I can tell by the way you carry yourself. But if you let me here's what I'll do - I'll take care of you' AU where Daniel and Regina lives in New York.
1. Chapter 1

_Once upon a time, Regina and Daniel didn't have any past connected with Enchanted Forest. Enchanted Forest didn't even exist. Daniel and Regina lived in New York and one day they met. This meeting changed their life definitely.  
_Thanks to my lovely beta Karolina (toospoky on tumblr), who changed some part of this story. Anyway, everybody makes mistakes, so if you found any mistake, just tell me! _  
_And I would like to read your opinions about this story, so reviews are welcome!  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own nothing!

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He was sitting at the bar for a long time. The whiskey his friend David had given him ten minutes ago, never tasted so bad. He had a horrible week. His boss Ashley had been like a pain in the neck – his work as a marketing communications assistant was so stressful, but suddenly Ashley had given an overture of depletion the expenses connected with a big commercial, so Daniel had to work like a robot, in order for his boss to be pleased. It was Friday, the first day of autumn, so the bar near his work's edifice was almost crowded. He saw his fellow workers from 34th floor and some well-known faces from others. He looked at his friend, who stood up the opposite of him. David was purging a small glass, when he decided to start a conversation.

"This week sucks." he told him and took a sip of whiskey.

"Mine too, Daniel, you are not alone." David put down the glass and glanced at his friend. Unfortunately, he saw a fatigue on his face. He knew, that if it was connected with her work, Ashley didn't have any limitations. She was that kind of boss - when somebody was late because of some meaningless thing, she could even fire them. David knew her very well – as with Daniel, she liked visiting this place, and when she was drunk, her tongue was longer than usual.

"I'm sure that Ashley is just thinking about how to kick my sorry ass." He glared angrily at the right corner in the club, where his fellow workers were laughing hard. "And I'm sure that one of those idiots won't be employed tomorrow."

"Ashley likes you." David smiled at him with a sympathy. "Too much." Daniel sighed heavily and took another sip. "Anyway, you are drunk."

"I'm not!" he said too loud and people near him peeped at him curiously. "I'm not." He looked at his friend and lowered his voice. "But I should go home. Lily might be worried or something."

"Sure." But Daniel didn't got up. He sat there and started thinking about his hard past. About his wife, who had left him two years ago, because she had been bored of responsibilities and duties, she had been simply bored with their relationship. The divorce had taken place as quick as possible, and after that he had heard, that now she was living in Mexico with some rich guy and twice a year they went to Europe. She hadn't wanted a husband and now she was in a beautiful relationship. This whole situation seemed too realistic to be true for him. One day he had lost everything… no, he was wrong. He had Lily. She was everything for him. She made him smile every day, she made him want to live, for her. For her big, bright, green eyes, beautiful smile, long, dark hair and crazy temper. He didn't know that he hadn't loved his wife at all until the divorce. He was grateful to her for Lily though. He remembered only one sentence from the divorce: "_The daughter is yours, Mr. Anderson_." and these words brought him the most beautiful and precious angel in whole wide world. Now he couldn't imagine his life without her. And he was sure, that he would never leave her alone, like her mother did. Anyway, Lily didn't even remember the name or even face of her mother. She was only two years old, when his wife had decided to leave them. And now she was four, eleven months and twenty days – she liked counting the days until her birthday, so he had plans about that.

"Yesterday you said something about a local, where I can organize Lily's birthday."

"Oh yeah." David seemed to be glad for Daniel's back from his own mind. He took a small piece of paper, where he wrote nine numbers and gave it to him. "Here you go. You should talk to Mike Brown, he's an owner, and…" he took another piece of paper and wrote something. "And here you have an address." Daniel smiled and put papers in placket.

"Thanks. I really appreciate that."

"But I would like to have an invitation! I have a special gift for Lily." Daniel seemed to be curious with his friend's words.

"Fine, but please, don't bribe my daughter, you have your own family!" David laughed hard, because he knew exactly what Daniel was thinking about - his relationship with Mary Margaret. First of all, he had been the best man at their wedding. It had been a hard part of Daniel's life, he was still recovering after the divorce. But he hadn't lost his head at all and he kept a cool head through the ceremonial, so the young couple could start their life without any doubts. Daniel really liked spending time with them. Mary Margaret Nolan was a complete contrast of her husband. David liked parties a lot actually – that's why he was working in the pub and preferred playing video games from watching TV, so he and Daniel every Saturday had a 'gaming' afternoon, no matter where - the most important thing was "what game is next?". Mary Margaret was a teacher – that's why she liked peace and calmness with an accomplished book or a remote control, she was addicted to music and she loved her students. She and David were so different, but together really stood out in the throngs of sweet, considerate and cheerful couple. Daniel had a feeling, that their relationship didn't crush him, only buoyed him up.

"Don't worry, Mary Margaret will try so that Lily will be delighted with the uniqueness of this gift." David winked at him, and Daniel just rolled his eyes.

"You spoil my baby and I don't like it at all!" they burst out laughing, when Daniel caught a glimpse of a woman who entered the pub. With a delicate gait as if she could eulogize over floor, she went to the panel and opened a small purse, from where she took a black phone. She started typing in, without knowledge that the unknown man, few chairs away from her, gazed at her with glistening eyes and thinly open mouth. When he came back to his friend, he recognized, that he was not only on the opposite of him, but near the unknown, gorgeous woman. David poured her a glass of red wine and when he told her something, he giggled as if an angel controlled her voice. Daniel stared at them with a confused gaze, when David came back.

"Who is she?" Daniel asked without second thought.

"She?" David pointed at the woman with a glass of red wine in left hand and a phone in the other. "She's Regina."

"And where did you met?"

"Why do you ask such awkward question? She works in your building, on the 28th floor I think, sorry, I don't remember. She loves red wine, she's really overworked person, but she loves spending her time here."

"Why haven't I met her before here? I'm here almost every Friday, and…"

"Wait. Do you mean it like, you like her, you know, really like her?" David glanced at him with a stupid smile, so Daniel looked closely at the woman. She had short-length, almost black hair, her body was dressed in a red dress with shoulders cut off and the length was up to half of thighs, so its unveiled her not so long, but skinny legs with a black, almost ten centimeters heels. Daniel didn't see her eyes, they were hid by hair, but he imagined a big, maybe green or brown eyes with a perfect makeup. He was mesmerized. He hadn't seen a similar beauty like her. Even his ex-wife wasn't even close to look like that woman. Regina. Such a unusual, but beautiful name. He wanted to come to know everything about her. Right now, since she was so close.

"I don't know… maybe… she's quite…" Daniel started to stammer and David ended up with a childish smile.

"No way, my best friend has fallen in love!"

"Oh shut up." He glared at him with a mysterious expression. "I don't even know her. She seems so… distant. Just look at her. She's like a red rose – she shows her all beauty. And I'm like… Jesus, like a dry cactus, if not worse." David couldn't help himself, so he just burst out laughing on whole pub. It seemed, like nobody cared about his misbehavior, but when Daniel looked at Regina, she was watching them with a tender, almost hidden smile. He was right – she had big, brown eyes, that glistened in the light. She smiled at them with dimpled forehead, as if she was curious to know about what's going on, but she would only smile puzzled. She returned to her phone then and the screen lit in her hand.

"Daniel, listen." David started when he finally understood that his friend could look at that woman all day. "She's really great, I swear. But I heard she's got some problems. She's terribly uptight, and I noticed she doesn't like talking about herself. So be careful. I can introduce you two, but…"

"No, don't worry. I don't have a dog's chance for her attention anyway."

* * *

On Monday, after work, Daniel decided to make an appointment with an owner of mentioned local, the one where Lily could have her birthday party. She dreamed about an immense party, where she could play with her friends all day and, who cares about time, all night. She didn't known about his plans, so whenever he was arranging everything, she had been at Mary Margaret and David's house. Daniel wanted to totally surprise her by this event. She looked happy without mummy by her side, but he was sure, that lost was caused her a great pain. He knew that she would like to wear some mummy's clothes, heels and do a little makeup. She would like to have her hair made, wear dress and so on. Daniel tried his best, so that she could have everything she wanted. His boss paid him well, so he came up with an idea of a birthday party.

About 6 pm he went to a local named "Brooklyn Style" on 62th street. That place was all in white and pale yellow colors with modern, wooden furniture. He saw three rooms: one - with only about twenty tables and folded chairs near a south wall. Second with half-closed door and he was sure he heard quiet voices inside. Third room was just a big, empty, black and white space, where the floor was covered by a blue sheet. Daniel wasn't sure of what to do next - he didn't see anyone, so he decided to walk into the second room. He opened the door and stopped stock-still. He saw a dark room with only few lighten lamps. In the middle of said room sat maybe fifteen people in a perfect circle. It wasn't even surprising that in the one of wooden chairs he found no one else but her. Regina. He could recognize her everywhere. He was wondering if that dark space affected on her so much or was she just joyless, because she was sitting there without any emotions. When he started to observe her with interest, she started to talk.

"Well… how am I? All the same – I'm powerless. He will never change and I'm afraid that one day I won't be sitting here with you guys… But, umm… I can't leave him now. This is too dangerous for other people. Now when I'm sure, that he can hurt only me, and…" she dimpled her forehead and closed eyes as if holding back tears. Someone got up from their chair and hugged her tightly. Long time passed when she felt someone's glare on her and peeped at Daniel. He was devastated. He didn't know her history at all, but that part made him sure she had plenty of problems on her own and now, after the speech, in her mind, she screamed for help. He stormed out of that room and sighed heavily. He didn't know what to do at all. Sure, he wanted to help her with all his heart. He wanted to hug her like that man in the circle. He wanted to assure her, that from now on she's safe and no one's gonna hurt her ever again. Unfortunately, he didn't know her at all. They were complete strangers. And it made him terribly sad.

"Oh, Mr. Anderson, here you are! I was looking for you everywhere!" he heard the local's owner voice and he conjured up a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little bit late, ain't I?" he lied and the owner started to talk. He showed the third room, which was the new, quickly redecorated place, perfect for children and teenagers because of a fairly big scene near the east wall, where someone could organize a concert or something else of that kind. The owner quickly talked the price and time limit and started to brag about his life. It was Daniel who stopped this nonsense. He was that kind of person, who always helped people and who liked listening about people's life, but his head was full of that brunette. He paid a fee for the local and said his goodbyes to the owner. He was close to the main door, when he suddenly bumped into someone. That person seemed to be as distracted as he was.

"I'm sorry, I'm a terrible blunderer, I was so lost in thought and…" he didn't looked up until the person started to talk.

"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, I was…" He glanced with an open mouth, because he could recognize this voice everywhere. It was her, again. Regina. He couldn't believe it. First he sees her at the bar, then he listens about her life and now that accident. He thought he was an incredibly lucky person. He smiled nicely at her, and she looked like she was thinking about something. "Hey, I remember you!" she looked like she was amused by that situation. In contrast, Daniel felt like falling in love with her. It was so stupid, he didn't ever know her, but she was there, with that beautiful smile and he thought about her speech and… "I remember you from the bar on St. Maria Street! You and David are some kind of friends?"

"Yeah, kind of." He smiled at her and she smiled back. Daniel really wanted to stay calm and not show his feelings, so his words were dry and had no sense at all. Then she reminded herself about something and clearly grew sad.

"And, um… You were there, when I was talking about my, well, problems so… Are you a new member of our club? Because if you're not, this whole situation is just one big misunderstanding."

"I'm sorry, I'm not." He was sure, that he clearly saw pain and sadness in her eyes, because again she didn't have anyone who could help. But her face was different - her forehead dimpled as if she was disgusted by this situation and she cleared her throat. The funniest thing was that he had known her only four days, and he had met her only twice, but he perfectly knew, that this part with forehead and throat was written in her behavior. She had these outright reactions on some occurrences in her life.

"Oh. So what were you doing there?"

"Well, I'm looking for a place for my daughter's birthday party and I was searching for owner of this place and…"

"Your wife must be grateful for having such helpful husband as you." She smiled genuinely and suddenly started looking for her phone as her ringtone sounded.

"Not exactly, you see…" She finally found her phone and picked up the call.

"I'm sorry, I should go." She whispered in his direction and smiled once again as she disappeared behind a door. Daniel stood there with confused expression. All he wanted was her and he couldn't stop thinking about that genuine smile, beautiful eyes and fetching, low voice. He just needed more time to come to know her pretty well.

* * *

Regina went to her house about 10 pm. After the meeting, which was at 4 pm, she got a call from her work, that her appointment with the city's government had been cancelled and after that her inferiors didn't know what to do. They had got everything that was needed for this meeting, they had worked two weeks without stopping, so that this one meeting could be ideal and now they didn't have nothing. So Regina had to go, meet her subordinates and calm them down, because nothing was cancelled and she looked forward for the meeting to go perfectly as planned. Finally, she entered the house completely exhausted and without any emotions. She just wanted to take a hot bath, eat something, because she hadn't eaten almost all day, and go to bed. Unfortunately, she had to remember about someone, who was probably in the kitchen with a bottle of some alcohol. She sighed heavily knowing exactly what will happen when she enters the room. She took off her black heels and she went quietly to the kitchen. She saw a man lying on a small table with his eyes closed. He was snoring with an open mouth. Near his left hand, which he used as a pillow, stood a half empty bottle of vodka. All space around him was dark and the kitchen reeked of alcohol.

"Killian, please wake up." She whispered and started moving him. He mumbled something unintelligible and snored once. "Honey, I'm begging you , go with me to bed. It's soft and warmth, why are you sleeping here?" Killian finally opened his eyes and glared at Regina. She knew exactly what would come next. He blinked twice and started getting up from the wooden chair. She smiled at him nicely and gave him her hand, but he suddenly raised his hand and with a clenched fist he knocked her in the face. She quickly moved away from him and put a hand on her left cheek.

"Where were you! I was waiting for you the whole day! You are a whore, am I right!?" There was certainty in his voice and he went to the bedroom stumbling from time to time.

"I'm not." She whispered, when a tear rolled down her cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN**: I'm so grateful for your reviews. It's very kind of you! After your opinions and 'favorites' I have w strength to write more and more, so this chapter is quite longer than it supposed to be. But anyway, enjoy this chapter and tell me your opinions! _

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Looking at the new, fresh bruise in the mirror caused her quite unintelligible pain. Regina should have been more careful, she had still reasons to be afraid for herself. Sure, she should have left him long time ago, but she couldn't. Three years ago Regina said to herself, that she will never leave him alone with his problems. And she was still with him, even when he was a drunkard, hurting her since she remembered. Regina couldn't help him in any way. Once again she touched her bruised cheek and opened a sponge bag. She found a small powder, which was used every time, whenever she needed it. She laid a thick layer of the powder and spread it so every evidence could be hidden. When she was sure there was no trace of violence on face, she adjusted her dark blue dress and went to a hallway. She put on her favorite heels and felt ready to go, when she decided to check up on Killian. He was sleeping in the bedroom. Since last year she was sleeping in the living room, except for all these situations, when he was too close to her and by that, hurting her much more than simply bruising. Killian looked good, his face was peaceful and he was snoring quietly. She smiled sadly. Every morning was the same – she was hoping, that this day will be the decisive in their life, that he will change, he will stop drinking, but then everything continues like the night before – he beats her, accuses of nothing, and at some nights he just needs sex. Why was she so devoted to her hopes?

She took off her grey cloak from a hanger and tied a scarf with leopard-print while leaving the house. 57th street was so crowded at the time, so she decided to not take a taxi, but to go by foot. Her job was on Fifth Avenue and it was not very far from where she was. Looking at the busy, tired people passing her in hurry, reminded Regina of the first year in new work. Killian and she had moved from their hometown, where their life had become one, big misunderstanding, to New York with hopes of new beginning. Regina didn't like to think about the past, especially now, when everything was a mess. Returning to the past, when things had been less painful, Killian hadn't had problems with alcohol and his family was whole.

She tried so hard to not think about it, when she recognized the building, where she worked. Regina pushed a door of the building and found herself in a quite big, square, polished hall, where people reminded her of little ants – they were everywhere and it seemed, like no one cared about each other. She slowly approached the black, muscular guard. He smiled when he recognized her, took a silver card from her hand and checked her in. Regina smiled back at him and turned towards the lift, which opened as she approached to it. Then she clicked a button and ten seconds later she was at her floor – 28th. As she walked through the door, some of her workers started asking questions about new plans connected with the city's government, so Regina held her head up and smiling from time to time, tried to calm down everyone and arrange a meeting with them at about eleven o'clock. Then she went to her office, turned on her laptop and opened some document. Now her thoughts were full of work. From eight to three there was just Regina, her workers and job in publicity department. She had a lot things to do that day, so she took a seat beside her laptop and started typing on keyboard.

At eleven o'clock everyone met with her in a long wooden meeting room. She stood up and as an advertisement manager started talking.

"Hello everyone. As we all know, our appointment with city's government had been cancelled. It's quite strange, since it's them who wanted us, not the other way around. They need a good buildup after the washout with taxpayers' money. They wasted it on new swimming pool near their building." Mocking laughs and ominous stammers sounded in the meeting room. Regina chewed on her lower lip and opened documents about the ad. "I know exactly what you're thinking about that. But when we'll do it, I promise that everyone will get a bonus. I see how many work you put in this ad. So why not try it once again, maybe this time they'll open their eyes and see that they have a huge problem? That people don't believe them now? In four months there are going to be a new elections. They need support, they need us." She ended up with glimmer in her eyes and heard an applause.

"We just need to make a move." Regina heard a voice in the corner and smiled to herself.

"We don't need to make a move. They'll be coming back for us, you'll see." She said calmly, looking without any hesitation in her eyes at gathered workers. "That's all I wanted to say. Here I have a list of things to do. And I have a hope that everyone will be satisfied with the progress. You are such a talented people, keep up the good work!" she gave the list to the person nearest her seat and closed her briefcase with documents. Workers started leaving the meeting room, and she stayed behind, side by side with Rick, who was her, let's say, right-hand man. She looked at him with a bright smile, when he picked up her phone left on the wooden desk.

"Thanks." She said thankfully.

"That speech… Well, it was pretty cool. You have the power to lift everybody's spirit after the defeat!" she laughed out loud.

"It was nothing, Rick. It was my duty." He sighed heavily as he took one step closer to her. She sensed his heavy perfume and looked at him with a little bit of reservation.

"So… Maybe would you like to go with me for a drink to celebrate your victory?"

"I'm sorry, I have plans." She said sadly and put a hand on his arm. "Maybe next time?" he nodded but he didn't look convinced. He left the meeting room then and she sat down heavily at her main seat.

It wasn't like she didn't like Rick. She just gave up on trying to reject everybody. Her beauty was her undoing. She wasn't prissy, she just knew that men adored only her appearance. She had had a lot of these situations - some guy sits next to her in the bar and glares at her like he's just looking for a one night stand, but when she starts to talk he turns out to be a complete moron. Killian had been different. Killian had loved her sassiness, brilliance and intelligence, and her beauty was only an addition. But now everything was the same as with those other men. All she wanted was freedom, but she couldn't have that. Not now.

After work, she left the building with an clear head. She didn't really want to go home. Killian would be under the influence of alcohol by now. The bruise on her cheek still hurt her and she was grateful for powder as a great mask for all visible wounds. She was standing there, on Fifth Avenue for a long time, when she saw an ad of David's bar called 'FBN' which meant 'Fly-By-Night' and she decided to visit that place, maybe drink some of her favorite wine and talk with David. It was about 4PM so she wasn't sure if she would even meet him, but she decided to try anyway. She crossed the street, the sound of high heels walking on the pavement filled the air, and a minute later she was on the spot. The pub was almost empty, some guy was sitting at the counter, finishing her glass. She recognized in him exactly that man, who had been there on Friday, talking with David like a close friend. More, she even bumped into him on 62nd street. All of a sudden, she smiled but didn't exactly know why. It was a strange feeling , knowing that she could put her trust into somebody. What's more, she knew that he could help her – she had been looking into his eyes (amazingly captivating blue eyes) long enough to be convinced about his good intentions. So she just sat down beside him and smiled welcoming.

"I feel guilty about my quick escape on Monday. And I'm afraid that I owe you small apology." His face was genuinely surprised when he saw her by his side. She gave him a radiant smile and his eyes stayed focused on her face.

"Don't worry, I don't have any problem with that." She glanced at David who just in that second appeared with a glass of her favorite wine. She nodded thankfully at him and accidentally noticed the men exchanging knowing looks. Regina cleared her throat.

"So… What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for my daughter. She's got a singing practice every Thursday from 4 to 5 pm, so in a moment I should go after her." She nodded with fatigue and rubbed her eyes. She didn't know why, but he seemed to be a great conversationalist. And now she needed someone to talk with about nothing. At this moment Regina felt incredibly lonely, because she didn't have any friend to vent off to. Beside Killian she didn't have any family, any friends from past, and even her workers didn't seem to take interest in her life. They had their own families, their own life after work, their own Sunday dinner with parents and children, and her Sunday evening looked the same – the club meeting on 62nd street.

"Will you have any problems if I'll join you?" Regina asked. He tilted his head to the right and smiled tenderly. She felt embarrassed for a second, not knowing what he was thinking at the moment. Regina realized that he may look for hidden intensions in her eyes.

"Not at all!" he seemed to be delighted about her request and Regina sighed with relief. One more second and she could start to blush. "And we didn't even introduce ourselves. I'm Daniel."

"Regina." And she squeezed his hand. He glanced at his watch, hidden by a sleeve of his jacket and smiled to himself.

"I think we should get going." She nodded in agreement, gulped down her wine and stood up. They said their goodbyes to David, who stood behind the bar with a stupid smile. Daniel passed her by the door.

They blended in the crowd and started loitering to suburbs of NYC. Smell of fresh baguettes hovered in the air as well as fatty meals, hamburgers and French fries in particular, when Regina realized, that she's in fact incredibly hungry. She hadn't eaten any meal since morning. It was a habit of hers. It was a funny thing, she had never felt hungry in the middle of the day. She peered at the food stalls and sighed heavily when she heard Daniel's voice.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little bit hungry. Anyway – where does your daughter have singing practice?"

"On 3rd Avenue, near the Hunter College. We're living on Madison Avenue."

"That's funny." She took a look at Daniel, whose face was searching. "I live on 57th street and we haven't met ourselves before."

"That's probably because New York is a big city." She couldn't do more than just nod in agreement. "And about your hunger – I have an empty stomach too, I haven't eaten since ten o'clock I think, so how about we'll call by sushi bar and I'll buy some food for us? Oh, and something for Lily. She'll be hungry too and we have an empty fridge."

"Your wife doesn't do shopping?" she asked without thinking and bite her tongue afterwards. Regina noticed Daniel's furrowed eyebrows.

"About that. I don't have a wife." He said quietly, but Regina noticed his depressed expression. She knew that kind of feeling very well herself. She saw it in the mirror almost every day with the addition of new bruises on her body. What's more, she understood exactly what kind of pain and loneliness he had to hid in front of other people. He needed someone, who would listen him carefully and say encouraging words. And at that time she thought to herself, that she was with the right person, at the right time.

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

"That marriage was fake. She didn't truly love me. She needed someone from rich family, and what comes with it– someone with money, so that she could have a fresh start after her release from prison." She felt a sharp twinge in her heart. Regina feared that she unnecessarily brought back unpleasant memories and sighed with shame. "It's not a good topic, I can see your sadness." Daniel however didn't look annoyed in any way. He was cheerful so she couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"I just have this stupid conviction, that we both have such a complicated histories."

"I hope that at some time you'll be able to tell me about yours."

"When you'll tell me about yourself first."

"Without doubt." Daniel sent her a joyful smile and she smiled back. Meanwhile they entered a sushi bar and bought three boxes of prawns with a brown rise and two bottles of water. Food was delicious. Regina had eaten sushi long time ago and she had forgotten how uncommon flavor it could have. Prawns hadn't been her favorite dish, but now she couldn't stop eating. Daniel was glancing at her with an amused smile.

"What?" she asked with a full mouth and he burst out laughing. "Sure, I must be so entertaining when I'm hungry. To be honest, I tend to forget how people can have fun just by looking at my captivating face."

"No, it's not like that!" he couldn't stop laughing, so she started laughing too. Suddenly, a unknown warmth appeared in her heart. The warmth, which she had needed and had been searching for so long. She glanced at him with a thankful smile but he probably didn't even notice that. "You must have been extremely hungry."

"I told you." They returned to the street and started walking on the pavement. They were passed by people talking to their phones, riding on bikes, listening music through headphones and talking with their companions. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The end of September had never been so warm in this city. Regina smiled and felt that finally she was in a good mood.

"Wait, you have some dirt on your face." They stopped on the left side of pavement so that people could walk without stopping. Regina started to clean her face, when Daniel found a handkerchief in his jeans' pocket. He came closer to her, gripped her chin and started cleaning her left lip corner. Regina was looking at him with her heart beating quickly. His face was so peaceful and blue eyes were watching her mouth with a mysterious expression. They were staying there a few seconds when he bounced back and looked at her eyes.

"I'm sorry! I'm doing this.. with Lily a lot and I just.. just lost my mind and.." he stammered too much, so she laid her hand on Daniel's arm and gripped it comforting.

"Calm down, Daniel, it's fine. To be honest, it was a nice gesture."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, come on, you'll be late for Lily.. that's her name, right? Why exactly that name?" She took him under his arm and started walking again. He peered at her for quite a long while and when she glanced at him with confusion, Daniel laughed quietly.

"Yes, Lily. And I don't know, I really love her name, it reminded me of truth, justice and discipline and for sure my daughter is very truthful – when she doesn't like someone, she can say that aloud. Sometimes it's a problem, in kindergarten for example, but it's just her nature. Well, I must admit that she isn't quite friendly - that's why she doesn't have plenty of friends, so if she'll say something out of place to you, don't worry." She hummed joyfully.

"Everybody likes me!" and they burst out laughing.

"We'll see about that soon!" David said and Regina saw a short girl, sitting on a bench. Her legs dangled playfully. She had a long, dark hair, and a cute fringe covering her eyes almost completely. She was busy reading a book and Regina heard that the girl was humming a lively melody to herself.

"What such a beautiful girl is doing here all by herself?" Daniel approached his daughter and asked jokingly. Lily looked up through her too long fringe and when she recognized her father, she flew at him with a big, genuine smile.

"Daddy!" Daniel folded her in his arms and hugged tightly. Regina couldn't help herself and a big, bright smile appeared on her face.

"We talked about staying outside alone. Why won't you listen to me? Remember, when I told you that you might be hurt when you stay alone?"

"I remember, daddy. I'm sorry. I was so bored and all my friends went home and.. Are you mad?"

"Of course not, honey. But next time just stay inside, okay?" Lily nodded apologetically and Daniel fixed her fringe. Regina was looking at that picture with an unfamiliar feeling, that caused warmth in her body. She was dreaming about having a child too frequently. It was her biggest wish, but Regina was certain that Killian probably wouldn't give her any chance for being happy. That conviction was creating an emptiness which had been residing in her heart for far too long. Daniel took a look at her and saw a sad smile on her face. "Lily, this is Regina. And this is Lily." He pointed at his daughter with a smile.

"Good afternoon." She said formal and Regina laughed.

"Hi, nice to meet you! I heard good things about you from you dad and you seem nice." Daniel placed his daughter on the ground and when she caught his hand, they started to walk. Lily was between her dad and Regina, so now she was observing a newcomer carefully.

"Can I call you 'Gina'?" Lily asked without thinking, but for sure she didn't want to take back her question. Regina cracked a smile when she glanced at Daniel. He was keeping a watchful eye on Lily and just sighed with exasperation.

"It'll give me a great pleasure." And when she looked once again at Daniel's face, their eyes met. Regina wasn't quite sure about that, but she saw a huge happiness and new hopefulness in his gaze. They exchanged smiles when Lily started talking.

"You know what, Ms. French said that I have a beautiful voice and she would like to hear me at singing competition!"

"That's fantastic, honey!"

"But daddy, she said too, that if I want to sing in that competition, I must find someone, who could play on the piano while I performance. I really want to take a part in this competition. Maybe you will find someone, please? We have the piano in our home, why have you never teach me how to play?"

"I can't, but for sure I…"

"If I could say something…" Regina flicked a glance at Lily and then she looked with a genuine smile on Daniel's face. "If you want to know, I can play the piano pretty well I think, I have took lessons a long time ago, but surely, I must remember something… So maybe I can help? I'll do this for free, it'll be a pleasure." Daniel squinted his eyes probably thinking about something.

"Please daddy! Lessons with Gina would be awesome!" she clutched at his hand, begging him and almost crying. Daniel stopped immediately, frowning a lot.

"Okay." He said finally feeling a squished by Lily's hug. She whispered something thankfully and suddenly ran through a door into a four-storied building with big windows and black shutters. Regina stepped back, studying the building in which Lily had disappeared. In fact she didn't know what had just happened, so when Daniel saw a confused shadow on her face, he started chuckling.

"We're living here." He explained, looking with amusement at her.

"That's why Lily decided to leave us."

"After her lessons she always goes straight to our neighbors from the first floor. There live a couple of oldies, who give her sweets. She's in love with candies, I should wean her off eating so much of them." They laughed at each other, when silence fell. "Well, I should go. She's very convincing, when she wants more sweets."

"Don't worry, I must go too. So… see you sometime?"

"For sure." They didn't know what to do then. Maybe they could hug each other, but there weren't that close to do such thing. They could just shake hands, but that gesture simply seemed too formal and… each one of them didn't want to seem too earnest. They were only thirty two years old, and they were sure that their relationship would last far longer that they could even imagine at the moment. So they just smiled nicely at each other and said goodbye. As Regina was walking away, Daniel stayed a few seconds looking at her vanishing figure. Her hair were waving gently and he could look at her all day. He was interrupted when his daughter appeared by his side. She glanced at his face questioningly and then turned to see what her dad was looking at.

"Daddy? Is Gina your new friend? I like her, she's very nice." He came back to reality and smiled with uncertainty at his daughter.

"I like her too, Lily, very much." He said, took her hand and they entered the building.


End file.
